Until Beats came along, high-end headphones were used by audiophiles and recording studios, and now people are readily spending $300 or more without batting an eye. The Beats brand not only delivers quality sound, but it is also a fashion statement consumers around the world want to make. This combination is a brand oriented corporation such as Apple (News - Alert) could not ignore, which led the company to pay $3 billion for Beats. That purchase increased awareness regarding the type of music Beats specifically addresses, and Sennheiser a 65 year old German company specializing in audio engineering came up with its own urban headphone speaker which it calls the “Urbanite.”

When Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser founded his company in 1945, hip-hop and electronica were not around, and these types of music as well as most of what is being created today incorporate strong bass. If the speaker is not designed to handle the bass, the distortion can affect the sound quality and relegate the product to the do not buy list when it is being reviewed.

According to the company, the Urbanite is designed to deliver massive bass, while still ensuring excellent clarity through the entire frequency range, which is important because not everyone listens to hip-hop or electronica.

When Beats first came out people that knew the difference between good and bad speakers pointed out it was only good for music that incorporated a lot of bass, and because it was designed to emphasize that genre, pointing out the obvious was useless. Since the first generation of speakers, Beats has received glowing reviews for its products, included topping different categories for Consumer Reports.

The new headphones by Sennheiser therefore had to come out the gate not only looking great, but also delivering superior audio performance. The company has two models, with both coming in under $300.

CNET’s David Carnoy said, “I wouldn’t say it goes super deep, but there’s definitely a lot of bass and it’s pretty tight. Detail is also good and while this isn’t the warmest headphone — it’s pretty forward sounding — it does sound more open than a lot of closed-back headphones we’ve tested.”

Although the price point might persuade some to consider these speakers, what Beats and Apple have taught us is, the brand is more important than technical specifications for many people and they will pay more to get the make they want.

Sennheiser is an established company with more than six decades of technology, and it has followers who appreciate the quality it provides, but you will be hard pressed to find as many people that are familiar with the brand as they are with Beats, which is a battle in itself. Additionally Beats is riding a monsoon that can’t be stopped at the moment, and with Apple and its billions behind it, it will be the go-to headphones for the demographic it is targeting until a great new product comes along.